Pep Guardiola insisted he “doesn’t care” about the Premier League title race despite his side being within five points of leaders Arsenal.
Arsenal spurned the chance to extend their lead at the top to seven points after being pegged late by bottom club Wolves to draw 2-2 at Molineux.
With one game remaining and a clash with the Gunners in April, City know that if they win the rest of their games they will win their ninth Premier League title.
Mikel Arteta’s side continue to be favored by the Opta supercomputer, which has come out on top in 80% of season simulations, compared to the Citizens’ 16.9% probability of taking the title.
However, Guardiola was keen to concentrate fully on City’s upcoming match against Newcastle United, telling reporters on Friday: “I don’t know what will happen in the next twelve games.
“I didn’t talk about that for a second with my players. Yesterday, the day before yesterday, just Newcastle, Newcastle and Newcastle.”
“I didn’t talk about the table, I didn’t talk about the position. I don’t care. If you ask me this question with two games to go, three games to go, I have your answer.”
“There are still twelve games left, it’s an eternity. A lot of things are still going to happen, that’s the only truth I have.”
City could be just two points behind Arsenal ahead of their north London derby with Tottenham, as they prepare for their first match under new boss Igor Tudor.
And Guardiola will be confident of getting a result against Newcastle despite the Magpies storming to a 6-1 win over Qarabag in the first leg of their Champions League play-off.
That’s because City are unbeaten in their last 21 Premier League home games against Newcastle, having won each of their last 16. In English top flight history, only Everton has had a longer winning home run against an opponent (22 against Fulham between 1961 and 2018).
In addition, the Citizens have also won their last six Premier League home games against Newcastle without setbacks. Only against Stoke City have they achieved a longer run of consecutive wins to nil (seven between 1982 and 2014) in their top-flight history.
However, Guardiola continued to face questions about the title race, with suggestions his team would be better equipped as they have Premier League champions in their ranks.
“70% of the players are new, so they don’t have this experience. An experience is to win tomorrow, this is the only one,” Guardiola said.
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